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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26068846">Visions of Our Futures</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_Tournesol/pseuds/Le_Tournesol'>Le_Tournesol</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Danny Whump, Gen, Hurt Danny, NOT slash or pre-slash, Protective Vlad, prelude to a mentoring/parental bond</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:22:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26068846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_Tournesol/pseuds/Le_Tournesol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> “Daniel, keep pressure on the wound. I’m going to lift you. Do. Not. Pass. Out.”</i>
</p><p>  <i>“M’mkay.”</i> </p><p>  <i>“I mean it. If you lose Phantom, Fenton is going to bleed out. Do you understand me?” </i></p><p> <br/>Or, Vlad steps in when Danny’s life is in danger, and it makes him reconsider a few things.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Danny Fenton &amp; Vlad Masters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>524</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Visions of Our Futures</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am the worst at titles. As usual, this was written and posted from my phone, so there’s always a little weirdness with spacing when I use italics.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> “...Chasing visions of our futures<br/>
One day we'll reveal the truth<br/>
That one will die before he gets there<br/>
And if you're still bleeding, you're the lucky ones<br/>
'Cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone<br/>
We're setting fire to our insides for fun<br/>
Collecting pictures from the flood that wrecked our home.”<br/>
</em>
</p><p>
  <em> - “Youth” Daughter </em>
</p><p><br/>
Danny leaves a trail.</p><p>Vivid, highlighter green puddles glow within the darkness of the alley, and Vlad follows it to the source, who is curled loosely on his side with his hand pressed to the gut wound that’s still oozing between his fingers. </p><p>Danny’s hair and skin is drenched in sweat, and he intermittently sucks air through his teeth and whimpers. </p><p>It <em>was</em> a nasty blow from the Guys in White, but Vlad knew that Danny had suffered worse. It was possible that he’d passed out or lost his hold on his transformation, but he was sure that any minute the younger halfa would reappear and rejoin the battle with a smirk and cheesy quip.</p><p>He was wrong, though. </p><p>It was unlike Daniel, and Vlad’s curiosity got the better of him: He made quick work of the government agents, and then he’d flown to where he approximated Daniel had gone down.</p><p>There was a pile of disturbed garbage from his impact, the bags damp with refuse, but Daniel wasn’t there.</p><p>And then he’d spotted the first smear of ectoplasm, the next, another, like Daniel had been dragged. </p><p>It was strange, but not alarming in and of itself. </p><p>“Daniel?” he called. “Are you here?”</p><p>Vlad has started to think Daniel had just abandoned the fight and gone home, even if it was out of character, so he wasn’t really expecting a response.</p><p>Still, he paused, waited, and listened. </p><p>For a moment, all he heard was the chirp of crickets, the drip of a gutter into the drain, the distant sound of a car passing a few blocks away. </p><p>But suddenly there was a wheezing breath, and then, “V-Vlad?”</p><p>“Daniel?” Vlad repeated. He followed the sound of his voice and the globs of shining ectoplasm. Frowning as he rounded the edge of a stinking dumpster, he half expected the teen to jump out at him and shout, “Boo!”</p><p>Instead, he finds the teen battered and crumpled, clutching his injury like he’s trying to hold himself together through sheer force of will. </p><p>“S’bad,” Danny mutters through shivering teeth, and then he vomits. He coughs, shudders violently, and then he <em> whines.  </em></p><p>Vlad has seen Daniel fight with bruised ribs and a concussion. He’s seen him electrocuted, burned, bitten, scratched, shot, stabbed, and knocked unconscious. He can admit that he was responsible for some of the items on that list of misfortune. </p><p>But for fuck’s sake, the child defeated Pariah Dark at fourteen while wearing a life force draining mechanical monstrosity, and with a few days rest he’d essentially slept it off. </p><p>(Well, truthfully, Vlad did have to intervene at the end and haul the teen back to the literal land of the living, and he may have substituted Daniel’s usual vitamins for something a little more suited to promoting healing for a halfa. Temporarily, of course.)</p><p>Daniel had a lot to learn, but Vlad could admit he had an impressive constitution already. </p><p>The fact that Daniel’s proclaimed his injury to be bad is <em> frankly frightening. </em></p><p>What sort of weapon had the Guys in White developed that could take out Danny Phanton? </p><p>Vlad can’t help but spring into action, “Let me see.”</p><p>It’s a demand, not a request, and he carefully peels Danny’s hand away to reveal a jagged gash that’s about two inches long and fairly deep. Quickly, he removes his cape, wads it up, puts pressure on it, and Daniel flinches. </p><p>“Phase back,” Vlad insists. “Do it. Now.”</p><p>The transformation always takes care of the worst of his injuries, which are all the more manageable for his human self, but Danny shakes his head. </p><p>“C-Can’t,” Danny bites off a moan. “W-Wouldn’t... won’t close up.”</p><p>Vlad’s eyes widen, “What!?”</p><p>Daniel closes his eyes, and then he reopens them sluggishly, “P-passed out... uhn, ah... when I landed... Woke up...” Danny coughs, “B-blood. S’fast. Everywhere... So I ch-changed ba-ah-back.”</p><p>Abruptly Vlad realizes the garbage bags Daniel landed in weren’t covered in filth, they were covered in <em> blood.  </em></p><p>
  <em> Oh hell.  </em>
</p><p>And he needs to know what exactly hit Daniel that could cause this sort of damage, but he needs to deal with any internal injuries and close up the the gaping hole in his abdomen even more. </p><p>“Daniel, keep pressure on the wound. I’m going to lift you. Do. Not. Pass. Out.”</p><p>“M’mkay.”</p><p>“I mean it. If you lose Phantom, Fenton is going to bleed out. Do you understand me?”</p><p>Danny attempts to nod, but it’s a sleepy motion. “Answer me,” Vlad shakes him, and Daniel groans. </p><p>“Okay,” he murmurs. “Okay.” </p><p>Vlad crouches and carefully gets one arm under Daniel’s knees and the other behind his back. When he scoops him up, Daniel cries out. Light flashes around his middle. He grits his teeth and screams, struggling to prevent the light from spreading, and after an excruciating effort it finally shrinks, shrinks, dissipates. Daniel pants in exertion, but he manages to maintain his ghost form. </p><p>Vlad whistles for one of his underlings, and an ill looking ghostly bird answers his call. “Get my team on the phone, and get them to the local hospital <em> now </em>. I don’t care what you have to do.”</p><p>Without another word, Vlad shoots off into the night. He reaches the hospital in record time. He pauses to survey the area for any witnesses, and then he drops his transformation. </p><p>“I got us as close to the entrance as I could,” Vlad says, “You’re going to have to walk for this part.” </p><p>Gently, trying in vain not to jostle his injury, Vlad lowers Danny to his feet. He loops an arm around his waist and tosses Daniel’s arm over his shoulder, and then he places his free hand over Danny’s and the wound. </p><p>“All right,” Vlad says, shifting so that he takes nearly all of Danny’s weight. His shoes barely brush the concrete. “Let go, Danny. I’ve got you. Let go.” </p><p>Vlad isn’t sure if it’s trust or exhaustion, but Danny’s eyes close and a white light encases his body. </p><p>Danny Fenton slumps against him, bleeding, unconscious, and all too human. </p><p> </p><p>👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻</p><p> </p><p>Waking up is <em> hard </em>.</p><p>Even though he feels stiff, like he must’ve been asleep for ages, he still feels the relentless tug of sleep pulling at his consciousness.</p><p>Part of him is tempted to let it drag him back under its spell.</p><p>He feels like <em> shit. </em></p><p>His mouth is so dry it feels like it’s stuffed full of cotton, and his head doesn’t feel like it’s sitting correctly on his shoulders. Not to mention the fact that his entire body <em> aches.  </em></p><p>These are all solid reasons to go back to sleep, but the pressing question that keeps him awake is too much to ignore: What the hell happened to him?</p><p>“Nnngh,” he groans. “Did I get hit by a truck?”</p><p>Danny tries to open his eyes, but they won’t cooperate. He squeezes them fruitlessly, and then he finally manages to blink.</p><p>Once.</p><p>Twice.</p><p>Open. </p><p>The world is blurry, but it’s blissfully dark, which is great because he thinks he’s got a headache. </p><p>“Are you actually awake this time?”</p><p>Danny’s face wrinkles in confusion. Weakly, he turns his head on the pillow to find the speaker. </p><p>He jolts when his eyes land on Vlad. </p><p>Suddenly alert, Danny bolts into an upright position and instantly regrets it. </p><p>“G-a-ah,” he gasps. His arms wrap protectively around his middle, and then there’s a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back against the pillows.</p><p>“Careful,” Vlad scolds. “You’ll pull your stitches.”</p><p>“Stitches?” Danny hisses. “What happened? Where am I?”</p><p>“You’re in a private suite at Amity General,” Vlad explains. He reaches for something on the bedside table and then proffers a cup of water with a straw. “Drink.”</p><p>Danny takes the cup and sips at the icy water. He almost sighs in relief. When he’s finished, Vlad plucks it from his grasp and places it back on the nightstand. </p><p>“Thanks,” Danny says, a little reluctantly.</p><p>“Of course,” Vlad replies. “What do you remember?”</p><p>“The... Guys in White?”</p><p>Vlad nods, “You were stabbed with some kind of weapon that prevents advanced healing. You nearly bled out in an alley.” Danny winces. “Fortunately, I found you and called my personal staff to treat your injuries. There was significant damage to your appendix, so it had to be removed. You received a blood transfusion. You were also treated for shock, which included oxygen and fluids, but your O2 levels have returned to normal.”</p><p>“Shit.”</p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p>“Um, how exactly does a blood transfusion work for someone like... us? I mean, is it going to mess up my ghost half or something?”</p><p>Vlad rolls his eyes, “Whose blood do you think you received?”</p><p>“Oh,” Danny mumbles. “What about my parents? How am I supposed to explain this?” </p><p>“Jack and Maddie be notified shortly. You suffered acute appendicitis while sleeping over at Mr. Foley’s. You didn’t want to bother his family, so you didn’t tell anyone you weren’t feeling well. When it was finally too much, you were unable to get a hold of your parents, so you called me.” </p><p>Danny wrinkles his nose, “Right.”</p><p>“I, of course, ensured you received the best medical care and attention available.”</p><p>“Won’t my parents notice that I didn’t actually call them? Shouldn’t the hospital have tried to reach them or something?”</p><p>“I’ll volunteer to fetch them myself soon,” Vlad answers. “They’ll discover that the phone was ajar all night.”</p><p>“No one can say you’re not thorough,” Danny snarks, bemused. “When can I get out of here?”</p><p>“Early tomorrow, I believe.”</p><p>“Tomorrow!?” Danny sputters. “Why can’t I leave now? I’m awake. I feel... mostly fine. Can’t I just go?” </p><p>Vlad shakes his head, “You’ve woken up several times since the surgery, and this is the first time you’ve actually been coherent instead of a drooling mess.” Danny flushes, but Vlad just smirks and continues, “The anesthesia is still working its way out of your system. You’ll likely sleep the rest of the day,” Vlad says. “More importantly, you foolish child, the weapon that caused that wound essentially nullified your accelerated healing factor in this instance. For all intents and purposes, you are a normal human being who has been <em> stabbed and suffered critical blood loss.”  </em></p><p>Danny abruptly blanches. “Wait. My healing factor is <em> gone </em>!?”</p><p>Vlad says something, but Danny can’t hear it over the rush of blood in his ears. Shit. Shit. He can’t fight ghosts without that particular enhancement. He’d been ground beef in no time! He’d <em> really </em>be dead. All dead.</p><p>He’s lost in thought, and suddenly there are hands bracing his shoulders. Vlad is in his face, insistent, “Daniel! Breathe!” </p><p>When Danny fails to inhale, Vlad shakes his shoulders. </p><p>Pain lances up from his belly, but it’s enough to pull him out of his own head. He sucks in a wheezy breath, and Vlad’s posture slumps almost imperceptibly in relief. </p><p>A nurse knocks and nudges the door open, poking her head into the room, “Everything all right in here, Mr. Masters? His heart rate just spiked on the monitor.”</p><p>“Just some mild anxiety, as one my expect,” Vlad assures her. “He’s all right now.”</p><p>“Poor thing,” she gives Danny a sympathetic glance. “Don’t worry, honey. You’ll feel better soon. Can I get anything for you all?”</p><p>“No, thank you, Ms. Johnson,” Vlad dismisses her politely, and she shuts the door with a soft smile.</p><p>When she’s gone, Vlad returns his attention to Danny, and he’s quick to drop his charming, mannerly mayor persona for his natural, straightforward demeanor. </p><p>“The weapon only rendered your advanced healing ineffective with the specific injury it inflicted,” Vlad continues, like they hadn’t been interrupted. “You could be mauled by the fuzzy little nuisance you call a pet today, and you’d have nothing but scars to show for it within a few hours.”</p><p>Danny exhales shakily, “Okay. Yeah. Okay, that’s... that’s good.”</p><p>Danny shifts to get more comfortable, and then he cringes as the dull throb of his side intensifies with his movement. </p><p>“I definitely want to steer clear of that type of weapon in the future,” Danny complains. “This sucks.”</p><p>“I’m sure,” Vlad agrees. “But it shouldn’t be a problem. My associates have made quick work of that research lab. Documents that explain the concept and construction of the weapon have been destroyed, including all copies.” </p><p>Vlad doesn’t tell Danny that the minds behind it have also been... <em> handled </em>. It’s not something he needs to know. </p><p>“Good,” Danny says, and then he rubs at his eyes and sinks further into the bed. “How long am I going to feel like this?” He asks. He yawns in the middle of the question. It feels like just having a conversation has sapped him of all his injury. </p><p>“You’ll need to rest and take it easy, but my staff assured me that you should make a full recovery within three weeks,” Vlad responds.</p><p>Danny blinks slowly, and he fails to withstand the force of another yawn, “Why am I so tired?”</p><p>“Blood loss, surgery, shock, anesthesia,” Vlad lists. “Take your pick. Don’t try to fight it.” </p><p>“Yeah. Whatever.”</p><p>Without thinking about his actions, Vlad pulls the blankets to Danny’s chin and smoothes them out. He brushes a hand through Danny’s dark hair. </p><p>One blue eye cracks open. </p><p>“Go to sleep. Your fan club will be here next time you wake up.” </p><p>“You’re not going to try to sabotage my parents’ marriage while I’m unconscious, are you?”</p><p>“Wouldn’t dream of it.” </p><p>“Sure,” Danny says. His tone is clearly disbelieving, but he doesn’t press. </p><p>Instead, his expression grows unexpectedly serious, even a little thoughtful, contrite. He coughs, and then he winces. </p><p>“Are you all right?” Vlad asks, and he can’t quite keep the concern out of his voice after such a long night. </p><p>“Yeah,” Danny says. He blows out a breath. He looks everywhere but at Vlad. “It’s just.. I want to... Um, thank you. For saving me. I mean, I guess I probably would’ve <em> died </em> died, if you hadn’t.” </p><p>Vlad keeps his expression neutral as he studies the boy in the bed, who looks both too small and too young to be there. He deflects, “You’re getting awfully maudlin. Go to sleep and spare me your saintly sense of gratitude.”</p><p>He’s not sure if Danny takes the bait, but the teen is at least kind enough to play along. Without any real heat, he mutters, “Fruitloop.”</p><p>“Very mature.”</p><p>Danny sticks out his tongue, and then he yawns for the third time in as many minutes. </p><p>“I’m going to fetch your adoring public while you waste the day away.” He picks up the bulky remote that’s attached to the bed and places it next to Danny’s head. “If you wake up and need anything while I’m gone, use the call button. My staff alone has been instructed to attend to all your needs, so you can be honest about the true nature of the injury.”</p><p>“‘Kay,” Danny says, slipping further beneath the blankets. </p><p>Before he leaves, Vlad places a hand on the plastic railing, and he watches the rise and fall of Danny’s chest as he relaxes into sleep, on the mend and <em>alive.</em></p><p>Vlad’s fingers tighten reflexively when he thinks of how close the child came to succumbing to his injuries, how close Vlad came to losing the only other person in the world who was like himself, like the son he’d wanted but never had. </p><p>He knows he pushes Danny, pushes his buttons and pushes him away because Danny has a father and doesn’t want another one. It’s easier to encourage hostility because it keeps the hope at bay and reminds him of the realist of it all. </p><p>Still. Is he such a miserable man that he’d be willing to let the boy die to save his own feelings? <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>No, no, he doesn’t think that’s true. Daniel may hate him, and even though he may encourage it, he would never truly let the child come to real harm. <br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Having seen the line between half life and real death, he knows that can’t let Daniel do it all alone.</p><p>No, he will never be his father, but he could be his mentor. If it keeps him from bleeding to death in dirty alleys, it’s worth it. </p><p>Danny’s already drifted off, but he stirs when Vlad says, “Daniel?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“Don’t... We’re not going to let something like this happen again.” </p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“I mean it.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p><br/>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don’t know how this happened. I’ve had miserable writers block for months, and then boom - this just happens. Listen, I am a sucker for mentoring relationships and found family. I wouldn’t call this either, but I’d like to think it could be a prelude to as much. </p><p>Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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